Frequently asked questions about Airline Consolidators and Consolidator Tickets

Pamela Rodríguez
3 min readMay 17, 2019

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Frequently asked questions about Airline Consolidators and Consolidator Tickets

What is a consolidator ticket?
A consolidator ticket is a discounted airfare ticket that is sold by most Airlines to help fill seats. Consolidator airfares are usually lesser than the published fares that are offered directly from the airlines.

What does consolidator mean?
consolidator. Noun. (plural consolidators) Anyone who, or anything that consolidates. (aviation, travel, dated) A company that buys airline tickets in bulk and then resells them at discounted prices.

What are bulk airline tickets?
Consolidators are companies that buy flight tickets in bulk at wholesale prices directly from airlines, and then sell them at greatly reduced rates to others. Using a consolidator will likely get you a better rate than you could on your own through an airline.

How do airline consolidators work?
Generally, Airline consolidators are the wholesalers of airline fares. Through their partnerships with airlines, the consolidators gain airfare at reduced prices or with a commission. These fares are then offered exclusively to travel agents who work with the consolidator.

What is a net fare?
Net fare or Net rate — the price of a ticket minus any third party commission or tax.

How far in advance can you buy flight tickets?
Book your flight at least 25 days in advance, but not further 150 days. Flights go on sale 11 months before departure, but don’t expect to catch any airline deals more than 150 days prior to takeoff.

Is it cheaper to buy a flight ticket at the last minute?
Contrary to popular belief, booking airline tickets late is often cheaper. Airlines know that business travellers tend to book their seats at the last minute and are willing to pay a premium for their flights. The logic follows that the earlier you book, the cheaper your seat will be. But it is not always so.

How do travel agents earn their money?
In addition to air, corporate travel agencies earn commissions from booking flights, car and hotel for business travelers. Corporate travel agencies make money mainly from service fees, net/private fares, and from airline commissions.

Do travel agents travel for free?
Do Travel Agents Get Free Trips? Genuinely, most of the time, travel agents don’t get free travel although they sometimes get discounts or a chance to keep the commission they would get on their own travel plans. Convention properties give them a cheaper trip to let them learn about their property on a working vacation.

What qualifications do you need to be a travel agent?
What do I need to do to become a travel agent?
Level 1 Certificate/Diploma Introduction to the Travel and Tourism Industry.
Level 1/2 Certificate in Travel and Tourism.
Level 2 Award in Principles of Customer Service in Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism.
Level 2 Certificate/Diploma in Travel and Tourism.

What is a synonym for consolidation?
Synonyms of consolidation. combination, combining, connecting, connection, coupling, junction, linking, merger, merging, unification, union. Words Related to consolidation. agglomeration, amalgamation, blend, coalescence, commingling, compounding, fusion, intermingling, intermixture, mingling, mix, mixture, synthesis.

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